Monday, September 26, 2016

On
September 7-9, 2016, the FSM Department of Resources and Development with the assistance
of Pacific Islands Trade and Invest, New Zealand, held the first and successful
Nationwide Trade Fair. The exhibition was scheduled timely as it coincides with
the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Meeting, which was held in Pohnpei on September
7-11, 2016.

The Trade
Fair was intended to showcase and promote the various and high quality FSM made
products ranging from clothing (Chuukese Mumu/Pohnpeian Skirts), handicrafts,
agriculture (Kosrae Banana Chips and Paper Products) and marine products to
participants and delegates of the PIF Meeting. Thus, a few selected producers
from across the four states were gathered in Pohnpei on September 4thin
preparation of the event.

On the
morning of September 7th, His Excellency, President Peter M.
Christian visited the booths and was impressed by the quality of the products. FSM
First Lady Mrs. Maurina W. Christian, lead other first ladies who accompanied
their husbands to the Trade Fair and many of them left with bags of souvenirs. Throughout the three days, the sales
were not as much as expected but some vendors have managed to solicit
orders/projects that could worth more than $20,000.

The first
nationwide Trade Fair also highlighted the launching of the “Buy FSM Made”
campaign. This was made possible with the generous assistance of the Pacific
Trade and Invest, New Zealand by providing “Buy FSM Made” stickers which were
lodged on every product sold during the fair. In addition, the Auckland based
PT&I also conducted a workshop focusing on interaction and participation of
vendors at a Trade Fair.

The
turnout was a successfor the FSM market and to each of the vendors, as many of
them sold a good number of items to the visiting delegates and introduced and
promoted their products to consumers from other markets across the Pacific.

In
addition to the assistance of the Pacific Islands Trade and Invest, the FSM
Department of Resources and Development was supported during the Trade Fair by the
PohnpeiState Government Department of Economic Affairsand the Hub and Spokes II
Programme funded by the EU, ACP Secretariat. Below are some pictures of the
products displayed at the fair:

For more information, please contact the Department of
Resources and Development at telephone number (691) 320-5133.

(New
York, New York) - Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) President Peter
Christian delivered FSM’s national address before the 71st session of the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA). He focused on themes of global peace and
security, reform and modernization of the UN, climate change, and oceans.

President Christian
began his remarks by congratulating Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of
Fiji to the UN, on his election to the Presidency of the UNGA for the 71st
session, calling it a historic occasion for Pacific islands. He next thanked the
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is finishing his term this year, for being
a champion of many issues important to Small Island Developing States (SIDS),
such as increasing political momentum to address climate change.

President Christian condemned
the spread of terrorism worldwide. He said it pained him to see millions of innocent
civilians desperately seeking shelter from the turmoil of war. He called on the
UN Security Council for a stronger response to this global crisis. He also challenged
the United States and Russia, as well as the Syrian government, to do more to
stop the violence in Syria. The President also condemned North Korea’s ongoing
provocative actions and rhetoric, which could threaten the peace and long term
stability of the Asia Pacific region.

The President called for
reform of the UN, citing the need for modernization of principles and practices
as well as technologies. The UN must focus on preventive diplomacy around the
entire world and not only address hot spots; it should act more as a
peacekeeper than a peacemaker.

With respect to the UN
Security Council, the President emphasized that the Council must adapt to
modern times and be reflective of contemporary geopolitical realities. He
reiterated the FSM’s support for the G4 countries (Brazil, Germany, India and
Japan) to become permanent members of the Council. He also expressed support
for appointment of a Special Representative in the UN system to be dedicated to
climate change and security.

President Christian
observed that a number of milestone agreements were adopted this year: on disaster
risk reduction, financing for development, the 2030 Development Agenda, and the
Paris Agreement on climate change. He said that integrating the sustainable
development goals (SDGs) into national plans will be challenging for SIDS and
that they must be fully included in the relevant UN processes.

On oceans, the President
explained that the FSM is custodian of the some of the world’s richest marine
resources. Under the Micronesia Challenge, the FSM has pledged to conserve 30%
of its near shore marine areas. These conservation efforts also enable FSM’s
sustainable use of its oceanic fisheries.

On climate change,
President Christian acknowledged that progress has been made in the last 25
years, but not enough. The President called attention to the ratification of the
Paris Agreement by more than 30 countries, including virtually all Pacific
islands. This raises hope that the agreement will enter into force soon,
although implementation will require higher levels of both climate mitigation
and climate finance ambition. Regarding the proposed amendment to the Montreal
Protocol to phase down HFCs, President Christian reiterated his thanks to co-sponsors
and other supporters who have helped bring the process of negotiating an HFC
amendment to its final stages.

The President welcomed
the progress in diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba and
urged an acceleration in the process towards lifting the embargo on Cuba. He
noted that the FSM and Cuba have also established diplomatic relations. President
Christian also applauded the peace accord in Colombia and offered his sincere
hopes for its success, punctuating this sentiment by saying “Viva Colombia!”

As Chair of the Pacific
Islands Forum, President Christian concluded his speech with a brief report of the
47th meeting of the Forum. He related outcomes of the meeting with
respect to the themes of oceans, health, human rights, fisheries (including
illegal fishing), partnership and climate change, all of which are contained in
the Pacific Islands Forum
Communiqué.
He also reported that Forum leaders endorsed the Pohnpei Oceans Statement:
A Course to Sustainability.

President Christian’s
full statement and video of his speech is available at: https://gadebate.un.org/en/71/micronesia-federated-states

Thursday, September 22, 2016

FSM Secretary of Foreign
Affairs Lorin Robert, Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav
Lajčák, who is the current President of the Council of the European Union, and Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Commissioner for
Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.

22 September 2016 (New York, New York) – The Federated
States of Micronesia (FSM) Secretary of Foreign Affairs Lorin Robert signed an
agreement with representatives of the European Union (EU) that enables short-term
visa-free travel to Europe for FSM citizens under most circumstances.

The new visa-waiver agreement, which also
provides for reciprocal treatment of European citizens who visit the FSM, was
signed on the European side by both Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav
Lajčák (the current President of the Council of the European Union) and Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Commissioner
for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. The signing ceremony, hosted by
the Slovak Mission to the United Nations, was also attended by FSM Deputy
Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Jeem Lippwe and Second
Secretary Martin Zvachula.

This agreement makes it possible for FSM and EU
citizens to enter each other’s territories and stay without visas for a maximum
period of 90 days in any 180-day period. The visa waiver applies to people
traveling for almost all purposes (e.g., tourism, international meetings,
business meetings, and sporting events), with some minor exceptions, including the
category of “carrying out a paid activity”. The visa waiver applying date begun
on September 20, 2016.

Before the visa waiver came into full swing, in order to travel
to most EU countries, FSM citizens had to obtain “Schengen visas” that allowed
them to enter the Schengen Area of the EU, which includes all of the EU
countries except the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland. The new visa-waiver
agreement covers the same area, meaning it does not cover UK and Ireland. Fortunately,
a separate agreement with the UK already allows visa-free travel to the UK by
FSM citizens. Thus, Ireland remains the only EU country to which FSM citizens
cannot travel visa-free.

The signing of the visa-waiver agreement was
one of the last steps in a process that began in 2014 when the EU adopted a
regulation that proposed visa requirements be removed for 17 countries,
including 9 Pacific islands. This was a welcome proposal, and bilateral
discussions and drafting of the agreement quickly ensued. The agreement will
not be final until it is ratified by both the FSM Congress and the European
Parliament; however, the visa waiver applies before then on a provisional
basis.

At the signing ceremony, Secretary Robert,
Minister Lajčák and
Commissioner Avramopoulos each made brief remarks. Secretary Robert spoke of the
longstanding relationship between Micronesian and European peoples, beginning with
the first interactions with Spain and then Germany hundreds of years ago. He
also highlighted recent cooperation with the European Development Fund, which supported
installation of solar photovoltaic systems in all four FSM states. This project
enabled electrification of some outer islands for the first time. Commissioner
Avramopoulos noted that the visa-waiver agreement would facilitate further
cooperation as well as trade and cultural exchanges.

Any FSM citizens who have questions about the
visa waiver for travel to EU countries may contact the Department of Foreign
Affairs (691-320-2641), the FSM Embassy to the United States (+1 202-223-4383)
or the FSM Mission to the United Nations (+1 212-697-8370). These numbers and
other contact information for Department of Foreign Affairs and all overseas
missions and consulates of the FSM is also available here: http://www.fsmgov.org/ovmis.html.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

September 15, 2016 (Washington, DC,
USA) - President of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Peter Christian
delivered remarks to a high-level audience during the first day of the 3rd
Our Ocean conference, hosted by United States Secretary of State John Kerry. The
purpose of the annual Our Ocean conference is to catalyze actions to protect
our shared ocean resources and empower a new generation to lead the way toward
a healthy and sustainable ocean.

The President was the first to speak on
the panel entitled Global Ocean Leadership, which also included Mauritius Prime
Minister Ameenah Gurib-Fakim and four Vice Presidents and Foreign Ministers. He
set the scene by relating the outcomes of the 47th Pacific Island
Forum (PIF) Leaders’ Meeting held in Pohnpei last week, including the Forum
Communiqué, which contains an Annex entitled the Pohnpei
Ocean Statement: A Course to Sustainability. This statement
emphasizes the centrality of oceans for Pacific peoples and livelihoods, and it
highlights the importance of achieving the targets under Sustainable Development
Goal 14 to secure the health and productivity of the oceans and the wellbeing of
future generations. As current Chair of the Forum, he also reiterated his
welcome to the newest full members of the Forum, French Polynesia and New
Caledonia.

For audience members at the Our Ocean
conference who were unfamiliar with the FSM, the President said in jest that
one way to get to there would be to board a flight from Hawaii to Sydney and,
about 8 hours into the flight, jump out of the right side of the plane and land
right in Micronesia. Further to the FSM’s geography, he said that the land mass
of the islands is small, but the area of ocean that the FSM governs is vast
enough to comfortably fit the entire United States. He reflected on how fishing
practices in FSM waters have changed with the advent of new technologies,
especially those that allow fish to be frozen and stored. This has not only
caused stress on coastal resources and biodiversity, but, in some cases, it has
also diminished neighborly relations, which were once generous with respect to
sharing daily catch.

President Christian concluded his
remarks with an emphasis on the connection between climate change and ocean
health. In this regard, he thanked representatives of the global community for
their support to successfully adopt the Paris Climate Agreement, which the FSM
officially ratified on September 15, 2016, in advance of the September 21
United Nations (UN) Secretary General’s high-level event on accelerating the
Agreement’s entry into force.

Throughout both days of the Our Ocean
conference, an important aspect was the contribution of specific commitments to
protect the ocean by many participants, including States, non-governmental
organizations, scientific entities and foundations. Between sessions, many
representatives of these States and organizations briefly took the floor to verbally
announce their commitments. The list of commitments and programs can be found
on the Our
Ocean website.

On September 14, the evening before the
Our Ocean conference commenced, President Christian also delivered remarks at
Pacific Day, an event hosted annually by the Pacific embassies in Washington,
DC and held at the New Zealand Embassy to the United States. In his remarks
entitled “Small Islands, Big Ocean”, he placed a strong emphasis on climate
change, referring to it as a “titanic challenge”, and calling on global leaders
to stop resisting the science and do the right thing for planet Earth. He also related
the key outcomes of the 47th PIF Leaders’ Meeting and highlighted
the recent designation of Nan Madol as a World Heritage site by the UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

President Peter Christian delivers remarks entitled “Small Islands, Big Ocean” at Pacific Day at the Embassy of New Zealand in Washington, DC.